From the Photographer, Angelina M. Photography: “A while back I partnered up with Philly in Love to give away an engagement session to a very lucky Philadelphia-area couple. Philly in Love is an amazing tool for local brides which showcases wedding vendors in the Philadelphia area, provides wedding inspiration and all the resources every bride planning a wedding would want.

I love Philly. It’s where I met the love of my life, fell in love and began my family. It will always have my heart. So I wanted to celebrate that! Which leads me to this feature. Lina and Eric won the engagement session. They are a very outdoorsy couple and appreciate nature so what better setting to capture their love story than at Longwood Gardens! Longwood Gardens is full of lush greenery and endless fields of florals, it’s hard not to find a backdrop that will add to the beauty of a photo. Lina and Eric knew exactly how to work the camera ;). We had a fun time capturing some lovely moments. They are getting married in September and I wish them all the best in the world!”

How They Met:

Eric: “We met through Tinder and hit it off while walking around Center City Philadelphia and Rittenhouse Square on our first date, though admittedly she was probably more excited about the puppies at every turn.”

Lina: “Yes, we met through Tinder. He took me on a date to Monk’s cafe and then puppy-watched at the park at Rittenhouse Square. We hit it off immediately :)”

What Do You Love Most About Your Partner:

Eric: “She’s always a bright spot and can make me laugh after the longest of days, and she’s willing to try the things that I like to do, like our long road trips.”

Lina: “Eric pushes me to be the best person that I can be in every aspect of my life. I look forward to growing with him and watching as we both progress into the next stages of our life and career together.”

The Proposal:

Eric: “I proposed at Big Bend National Park after a hike to the South Rim. The plan was to have someone there to take our picture and then get down on one knee, but no one ever came. We had the view to ourselves for two whole days, sunsets and all. When we first got there I had been waiting for days to get the ring out of my pocket, but she made sure I set up the tent and let her nap for 2hrs. She couldn’t figure out why I couldn’t sleep.”

Lina: “Our proposal story is pretty funny. I was really tired after the long hike! Don’t judge! He pulled out his lip balm (which was cleaned out and hid the ring) and asked if I would marry him. After 3 minutes of stuttering and telling him to stop joking around, I finally said yes!”

Engagement Session Inspiration:

Eric: “My family had been to Longwood Gardens a few times and it’s variety of scenery was appealing as well as the cactus room which brought us back to our Texas trip.”

Lina: “I went to Longwood gardens with Eric for the first time and fell in love with the setting. It was where we had our parents meet for the first time as well. It seemed like the perfect backdrop to have our engagement photos with Angelina.”

Wedding Planning Experience:

Eric: “Wedding planning is in full swing. She handles supply chains and logistics for a living so I’m pretty sure the whole thing was in the books 48hrs after the engagement. We plan to get married at a small little schoolhouse and the venue is just rustic enough for the perfect backyard wedding.”

Lina: “Eric is completely right – excel spreadsheets commenced as soon as I got back home to my laptop! It has been so much fun planning a DIY wedding. Everything from decorations down to the invites was hand-made and we’re so excited to have a fully personalized and intimate wedding with our friends and family. It was a lot of hard work, but we wouldn’t have had it any other way!”

Engagement Session Experience:

Eric: “Angelina was very professional and tried her best to get us to loosen up and be ourselves, and it helped that she enjoyed the gardens and had good ideas of spots to stop and shoot.”

Lina: “I loved working with Angelina. Eric and I never had photos of us taken before and we were very nervous and tense about it! We practiced poses prior to seeing her so we could be prepared. It made her laugh!”